Brompton Bicycle


Brompton Bicycle is a British manufacturer of folding bicycles based in Greenford, London..
The Brompton folding bicycle and accessories are the company's core product, noted for its self-supporting compact size when stored. All available models of the folding bicycle are based on the same hinged bicycle frame and 16 inch bicycle wheel tyre size. Components are added, removed, or replaced by titanium parts to form the many variations. The modular design has remained fundamentally unchanged since the original patent was filed by Andrew Ritchie in 1979, with small details being refined by continual improvement. Ritchie was awarded the 2009 Prince Philip Designers Prize for work on the bicycle. In reviews of folding bicycles, the Brompton is often the winner.
Brompton is the largest volume bicycle manufacturer in Britain,
producing approximately 40,000 bicycles each year. The company also operates a bicycle hire system.

Design

All Brompton folding bicycle models share the same curved frame, consisting of a hinged main tube, pivoting rear triangle, fork, and hinged handle-bar stem. The main tube and stem are made of steel in all models. The rear triangle and fork are either steel or titanium, depending on model. The steel sections are joined by brazing – not welding. Wheels are rim size, carrying tyres with 16″ tread diameter. The handlebars and some peripheral components are aluminium.
A Brompton bicycle uses over 1,200 individual pieces, many of which are manufactured solely for the Brompton design.
the combinations allow one-, two-, three-, or six-speed gearing options to be factory-fitted, with higher or lower gearing available as an option.
The Brompton uses a combined rear fold and suspension design. During riding, the rear triangle rests on a rubber spring to provide suspension between the rear wheel and the main frame supporting the rider. The suspension block is kept in compression by the rider's weight the latest design of which is claimed to accommodate all rider weights and riding styles. There is no suspension for the front wheel, although the titanium forks of the Superlight versions provide a small amount of spring.

The fold

The elements which allow the fold to work are:
The final folded package is provided the standard seatpost is used, and weighs between 9–12.5 kg depending on the configuration. The standard saddle of 2009 and later models acts as a carrying handle for the folded bike, with finger-grip ridges on the underside. With practice, folding and unfolding takes between 10–20 seconds, making the Brompton popular with commuters.

Models

Models are signified with a letter each side of a number to describe the handle bar type, number of gears and factory attached fixtures respectively. A suffix is appended to show the inclusion of titanium upgrades. As an example, the model code of "M3R" refers to classic "M" handle bars, "3" gear speeds using an internal hub and an "R" for having a rear rack. The same model making use of titanium for some parts would be "M3R-X".

Factory additions

All models may have the wheels on the corners of the rack replaced with larger "eazy wheels", to aid pushing when folded and to give greater heel clearance than the stock rollers. All models can choose to have no lights, lighting powered from battery, or two variants of front wheel hub dynamo. Seat posts can be swapped between standard length, extended or telescopic for tall riders. Bicycles are offered in four colours at no additional charge: Black, White, Orange and Cobalt Blue. Other colours, raw lacquer, and titanium are available at extra cost. Titanium areas are left unpainted, in their natural titanium colour. The standard Brompton saddle can be substituted by a Brooks B17 Special leather saddle ladies' or men's versions. Non-titanium models have braze-on fittings for holding the supplied Zefal HP compact high-pressure bicycle pump.
All models may have the front luggage block fitted to carry cargo, this is fitted to the main frame to avoid interference with the steering. Hub dynamo options use a special narrow-width SON XS hub dynamo fitted at the centre of the front-wheel and manufactured by Schmidt Maschinenbau or a less expensive hub dynamo manufactured by Shimano. Until 2009, bottle shaped tyre dynamos were used for standard permanent lighting. New bicycles have a choice between Brompton-specific Shimano or SON XS hub dynamos.
A full "superlight" variant uses titanium to save weight, combined with lighter wheel components. The option replaces the rear triangle and front forks with titanium and other smaller parts with titanium or aluminium. The main frame structure remains steel. This upgrade represents the largest cost increase of any upgrade, and reduces some variants to below ten kilograms in weight. The titanium rear triangle has no provision for mounting a pump, and a pump is not supplied with titanium models, saving approximately.
Tyres can be swapped at any point between kevlar-based Brompton-branded tyres, lighter, faster Schwalbe Kojak or more robust and puncture-resistant Schwalbe Marathon. Whilst no longer factory fitted, Brompton bicycles originally used Raleigh Record tyres and continued to do so on the lower end model until the 2000s. Aftermarket tyres include the Schwalbe Marathon Plus, a heavy but very puncture-resistant model although, on its website, Brompton states that this is not an officially recommended tyre for a Brompton bike.

Accessories

A small saddle bag can be fitted behind the saddle for the Brompton cover and any tools or spares. Most of the handlebar types can also accommodate standard handlebar bags.
When fitted with a front luggage block, Brompton offers a choice of folding basket, large touring pannier, two variants of bicycle-messenger style flip-over bag, a waterproof option available in two colors manufactured by Ortlieb, the cotton duck canvas bike bureau known as the "City Folder" from Carradice, or a leather attaché case can be attached to the bicycle. These bags internally share a common design of luggage frame, which can also be used separately. In the case of the Carradice bag, this frame must be purchased separately from some retailers. Some other accessories brands are compatible with Brompton bicycles like the saddles manufacturer Brooks England.

History

Design changes have generally been introduced so they can be retrofitted on earlier models. An exception is that in 2004, the frame was lengthened to provide a longer wheelbase.
;Handlebar stem hinge: switched to a jig-brazed system
;Handle-bar clip: reinforced wire clip providing increasing gripping to secure the handle-bar stem when folded down.
;Handlebars: Two alternative handlebar designs; the original handlebar being redesignated as the 'M' type.
;Frame: The wheelbase was lengthened in 2004. Frames made before 2004 do not accommodate the Brompton Toolkit, nor the new design pump.
;Titanium parts: saving approximately 1 kilogram combined
;Dual action calliper brakes: later fitted as standard to both the front and back wheels
;Wide range hub: Brompton Wide-Range hub with a wider gear ratio spacing, more suited to the Brompton's smaller wheel size, since 2008
;Non-folding pedal: new right-hand non-folding pedal designed to increase robustness and balance the folding pedal.
;Upright handlebar
In late 2016, several changes for 2017 appeared. The 'M' and 'H' handlebars now had Brompton-designed integrated brake + bell + shifter + gear units hung below the new handlebars. The handlebars retained the same overall height, but with a handlebar stem 20mm higher, meaning 20mm less rise required on the handlebars, and a smoother curve. The 'M', 'H' and flat 'S' handlebars switched to using longer and removable handlebar grips.
The design of the rear rack casting changed, with the new design incorporating two cut-outs for the built-in luggage straps.
The changes appeared first on limited run "Black Edition" bicycles, and then on bicycles delivered from November 2016 onwards.
In August 2017, the company introduced a version of electric bicycle or pedelec in the U.K.

Customisation

Further modifications are provided by some Brompton dealers or skilled individuals, the most prominent examples being:
;Rear hub:The Brompton's frame fits rear hubs with an over locknut dimension of 115 mm. Many rear hubs on the market, however, are 135 mm wide and so do not fit without modifying the frame. A notable exception is Sturmey Archer's 8-speed hub X-RF8 which is available in 120 mm width and can fit the Brompton with only little modification.
;Rear axle: Derailleur gears either in addition to, or instead of the standard internal hub gearing
;Bottom bracket
;Front wheel hub
;Luggage
;Contact points
Brompton owners and designers with suitable engineering expertise have tried to improve the design, although there is limited scope to do so as any additions attached are likely to compromise either the final folded size, carried weight or folding action.
In 1976 Andrew Ritchie founded the company, named after the Brompton Oratory, a landmark visible from his bedroom workshop where the first prototypes were built. At the time he was working as a gardener. Ritchie obtained backing from friends and sought to license the design, but after five years began manufacturing the bicycle design himself. Production ground to a halt in 1982 after which Ritchie continued to explore possibilities for continued manufacturing whilst undertaking other jobs.
Finally in 1986, again with backing from friends and former customers, enough was raised to resume production on a larger scale. With a bank loan underwritten by Julian Vereker, production was restarted in a railway arch in Brentford. By early 1988, mass-production Brompton bicycles were once again in circulation.
From 2002, when Will Butler-Adams joined the firm, to 2013, production increased from 6,000 to approximately 40,000 bikes per year. The workforce increased from 24 to 190.
In March 2009, Brompton Bicycle achieved a record monthly turnover of just under £1 million; the employees were rewarded with fish and chips. In the same month, the company stated that it was hoping to continue a 25% rate of growth; partially enabled by switching to just-in-time stocking for some of the parts being sourced from suppliers, and by having those suppliers hold the stock until it is needed rather than parts living for periods at the Brompton factory.
The company was awarded The Queen's Award for Export in 1995.
In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 21 April 2010, the company was awarded two Queen's Awards for Enterprise, in the Innovation and International Trade categories. This was the second time Brompton had won the International Trade Award, they first received it in 1995. It is very rare for a company to receive two of these awards in one year.
Will Butler-Adams, Managing Director, was awarded Order of the British Empire in 2015. In July 2015 a plan to move the company from Brentford to nearby Greenford was reported.

Clones and licensing

In 1992, Brompton agreed with Euro-Tai in Taiwan to allow the manufacture of a licensed copy of the Brompton bicycle for distribution in Eastern Asia. A joint venture company called Neobike was then established to manufacture them. Brompton Bicycle in the United Kingdom would loan tools and drawings, and be paid on a per-unit royalty basis.
By mid-1992, Neobike had recruited three senior research and development employees from Dahon, another folding bicycle company, and had started to produce other designs and copies in addition to the official Brompton design. Brompton's licensing contract with Euro-Tai/Neobike lasted approximately ten years until it expired on 31 December 2002. By this time, five senior Neobike employees had been convicted and jailed for stealing trade secrets from Dahon and Ritchie had previously stated that the franchise contract had been "under review", there having been quality issues with the Asian-built Brompton bicycles. Euro-Tai and Neobike failed to return the Brompton-specific tooling loaned by Brompton Bicycle. One week later after the expiration of the official licensing agreement Euro-Tai sold its controlling stake in Neobike to YTE Manufacturing, an aluminium supplier that was already involved with producing frames for Neobike.
At the 2003 Eurobike trade show, Neobike exhibited their—now unsanctioned—clone of the Brompton, offering it to potential dealers within Europe. Neobike-produced copies of the Brompton bicycle were then imported into The Netherlands branded as the "Scoop One" and "Astra Flex V3". Later, Neobike's interests in its copy-bicycle business were transferred to an entity called Grace Gallant Enterprises, for sale under the brand "Flamingo". Between 2004 and 2010, several batches of copies were imported into the European market: into the United Kingdom under the name "Merc", into Belgium, and into Spain as the "Nishiki Oxford". Taiwanese-manufactured clones bear the model numbers FL-BP01-3/FL-BP01-7 standing for Flamingo, "Best Persuader", 3-speed/7-speed. As of 2014, Grace-Galant continue to make clones for the East Asia market under the Flamingo and MIT brand names. Later iterations of the clones had their frames made of aluminium, rather than the steel frame of the originals.

Court cases

Following the expiry of the Brompton patent, Brompton Bicycle's legal actions against Neobike/Grace Gallant have all been brought on the basis of copyright- and industrial design-law.
A court case was held at the Groningen civil court in the Netherlands on 24 May 2006, which ruled that the industrial design of the Brompton folding bicycle was protected by copyright. Additionally, the Neobike-provided manual had included direct copies of those drawings found in the Brompton user manual. The Brompton Bicycle Limited v Rijwielbedrijf Vincent Van Ellen BV ruling held that there was creative flexibility in the design for a bicycle beyond those choices made purely for functional reasons; in the Brompton case this included the M-style handlebars, curved main frame tube and the cable-placement. Each of these were noted to be distinctive design decisions that another manufacturer could change without compromising the ability to create a functional folding bicycle. Such a level of perceived similarity was therefore likely to cause "confusion in the market" under the Dutch copyright law, Article 13. Neobike did not choose to appeal and Brompton Bicycle was granted the right to have all of the imported bicycles destroyed with an injunction against future imports by Neobike's distributors.
In June 2010, Brompton Bicycle gained a further injunction against the import of the unlicensed copy Brompton models into Spain, this time under the name "Nishiki Oxford Bicycle". The case was decided on the basis that Grace Gallant predecessors' had not returned all of Brompton Bicycle Ltd's drawing and toolings upon the termination of the earlier Eurotai/Neobike franchise agreement.

Marketing

The Brompton World Championship is an annual promotional event in England, preceded by world-wide qualifying events.

Social media

Brompton Bicycle has used social networking for brand promotion to its international customers. Multiple networks are used to promote the brand by showing campaigns, competitions and events. Brompton Bicycle uses social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Twitter
Brompton Bicycle find Twitter as an ideal channel since it is convenient to post announcements and events like Brompton Urban Challenges, Brompton Maintenance Events, Brompton Luggage Showcase Fashion Shows and the Brompton World Championship. Moreover, Brompton bicycle has strong links with other cycling channels on Twitter to promote joint ventures and relationships with partners. As a result, there will be massive customer interaction on Twitter since Brompton Bicycle can engage with happy cycle fans on it.
Facebook
Brompton's projects and media coverage can be promoted by more detailed text descriptions with photographs and links. Facebook's commenting system is used because of conversation-heavy posts and Brompton tends not to miss the chance to join those conversations.
Instagram
Even though there is less discussions in terms of the brand on Instagram compared with other networks, Brompton generates a content to involve their user-customers and actively uses Instagram as a platform for competitions. The Brompton Bikes organized a global film competition called #MyUnseenCity global which required to make a 15-second video showing a "hidden" part of their city and post it on the Brompton Bikes Instagram channel. The ten most "liked" Instagram videos were presented to a high-profile judging panel at the end of March 2016.
Pinterest
Pinterest has been a presence of Brompton Bicycle to pin photographs from diverse Brompton World Championships in photo-album style Pinboards.